This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically to a technology of detecting attachment and detachment of a toner container.
An image forming apparatus having a mechanism of collecting, in a toner container, a toner adhering to a drum surface is provided with means for detecting that the toner container is full of the toner. As a method of detecting this toner container fullness, there is a method of arranging a light emission section and a light reception section in a manner such as to sandwich an opening part of the toner container from both sides and judging the fullness as a result of detection that light emitted from the light emission section is blocked by the toner accumulated in the toner container and the light no longer enters the light reception section.
The fullness detection using such an optical sensor is easily influenced by a form in which the toner is accumulated in the toner container, and in case of deformation of the accumulation form due to, for example, oscillation, the blocked light may be transmitted again in some cases. Thus, even when the transmitted light is received again by the light reception section after the fullness detection, control of maintaining the fullness detection is performed. However, upon replacement of the toner container, this fullness detection needs to be reset, and thus the fullness detection using such an optical sensor requires a trigger for releasing the detection of the toner fullness of the toner container.
As this trigger, cover opening and closing detection at a portion storing the toner container is used in many cases. For example, disclosed is a technology of omitting a mechanism of the cover opening and closing detection for, for example, cost reduction, in place of this mechanism, using a mechanism of detecting toner fullness of a toner container to detect attachment and detachment of the toner container and using it as the trigger for releasing the detection of the toner fullness of the toner container.